"DC" > wrote in message
...
> I've seen Bagoong in jars with a little preserving liquid here as well
(UK)
> & know them as a Filipino ingredient but have never really tried it. Your
> best bet for getting your hands on ikan bilis which are allows sun dried
is
> to try a Thai, Malaysian or Indonesian supermarket. Apart from that...
it's
> a long shot but you can try making them yourself if you live in a very hot
&
> sunny place. We use to as kids, go fishing with nets along the beach &
catch
> small fish/ikan bilis/silver fish, shrimps etc. which we would use to make
a
> variety of sun dried ingredients for later on in the year. The tiny silver
> fish (2-3cm) would be left to dry in the sun fresh from the sea & when
dried
> has a natural saltiness from the sea water. You would simply fry it in oil
> until golden brown & you would eat it with your nasi lemak. Ikan Bilis are
> slightly larger (5-10cm) & prob. known as anchovies in the West. It too is
> dried w/o washing & has a slight saltiness to it. The tiny shrimps &
prawns
> are used for Chincalook, blacan & prawn crackers.


I love your stories, DC. Thanks!


> Pedas in Malay means hot/spicy & i don't know if it means the same in
> Filipino... if it's any help.


Looking at a Tagalog dictionary, doesn't seem like it means that in
Filipino. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if it was so in some other of the
many Filipino languages...

Anyway, most bagoong (fermented fish and shrimp) use rather small critters.
The bagoong padas uses these nice, fingure-sized things, so I'm guessing
"padas" refers to that fish.


> > Copeland Marks says you can eat ikan bilis "out of hand
> > with, perhaps, a glass of wine, as I do."
>
> Sun dried ikan bilis fried with sugar & chilli is a reg. bar snack,
normally
> drunk with locally brewed beer. But from what i hear, silverfish & ikan
> bilis are not in abundance as it use to be before in the 60's/70's. Maybe
> it's over fished or the local waters are polluted.


I think I'm born to love the Malaysian cuisine to death, but I have very
little experience in it, unfortunately.... But the more I read about it,
the better it gets. I'll need to head out there sometime.

Peter